The electoral code is unambiguous: municipal elections must take place on a Sunday, "in the event of a second ballot, this is done on the Sunday following the first ballot" (art. L-56). However, it is less clear regarding the coronavirus epidemic situations.
After a first round marked by a strong abstention (56%) and while the number of victims of the coronavirus increases every day in France, the question of maintaining the elections is in everyone's mind.
Divided experts
Drawn the first, Yannick Jadot, the European deputy Europe Ecology-The Greens, asked "solemnly" to Emmanuel Macron "the postponement of the second round", which must take place in a week, Sunday March 22. LFI MP François Ruffin followed suit. According to him, "maintaining it would be bad for the health of citizens, but also for that of democracy".
Marine Le Pen, patron saint of the National Rally, also pleaded for a postponement, estimating that "the second round will probably not take place", while judging important that "the victories of the first round must be taken for granted".
Faced with this unprecedented situation, the experts remain divided on the case of the numerous municipalities, in particular the smallest, which elected their municipal council in the first round this Sunday (provided that they exceed 25% of the registered members). According to the constitutionalist Didier Maus, a postponement of the second round would ipso facto lead to cancel the result of the first round because the electoral law plans to hold the second round the following week. This would therefore force voters to vote again for the two rounds.
"Consultations at the beginning of the week"
"It's a real legal headache," says Anne Jadot, a lecturer in political science at the University of Lorraine. "What do we do for those who were elected after the first round. Do we replay everything, even for them? Or we end up with two categories of elected officials", she summarizes, stressing that "in any case, there is a high risk of electoral disputes".
# Municipales2020
❓We also wonder, if the 2nd round is postponed, about those who would be elected this evening.
✅ My analysis is that they would keep the benefit of their election, which will presume to arrange the duration of the mandates for the next general renewal https://t.co/ZrGGVy4HSR
"This is an unprecedented case", analyzes for his part the constitutionalist Jean-Philippe Derosier. The mayors elected in the first round should keep "the benefit of their election, which will involve arranging the term of office for the next general renewal". On the other hand, for the others, "postponing the second round would cancel the first round. It is not possible to disconnect the two rounds from the same ballot without altering its sincerity".
From his city of Le Havre where he arrived at the top, the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, indicated that there would be consultations "at the beginning of the week" of the experts and the parties to decide if the second round is maintained. Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health, had indicated earlier that he would ask scientific experts "probably Tuesday" for their opinion on the advisability of holding the second round of the municipal elections, scheduled for March 22.
With AFP
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